I haven't given it as much thought as some perhaps but when Danny provides the rankings in run and pass protection despite the continuity scores, it makes ya say "hmmm"...

With all the movement last year in Seattle's platoon system due to injuries, it just makes their top-tier numbers in the run game and respectable numbers in pass pro that much more impressive. Imagine what Tom Cable's line could do if they actually did end up with some continuity this season.

You know they talk about placing 12th in Sacks allowed, but let's be honest. A lot of that stat can be attributed to the elusiveness of our QB. And further the "skitishness" of our QB.

Russell Wilson did tend to jump out of the pocket prematurely sometimes (a lot). Which in part, can be a direct reflection on how the offensive line is doing. Now I'm not Russell Wilson, so I'm not going to speak for him, but in my opinion having two run threats (read option) at the snap may have artificially lowered that number (making the O-Line look better than it actually was in pass protection).

I will be happier if the O-Line takes a signifigant step forward this year.

Last edited by Shock2k on Thu May 02, 2013 1:12 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Wilson had 10 Houdini's last year (eluded a sack), which tied him for 1st in the NFL. Add about 5-6 more sacks to that total to get a real feel for how they did on pass pro. Puts them around 12-14th worst. Still an upgrade over previous years and I would hope if their line stays healthy they can improve on that number.

Richard Sherman doesn't just wanna get in your head, he wants to build a vacation home there.

SalishHawkFan wrote:Wilson had 10 Houdini's last year (eluded a sack), which tied him for 1st in the NFL. Add about 5-6 more sacks to that total to get a real feel for how they did on pass pro. Puts them around 12-14th worst. Still an upgrade over previous years and I would hope if their line stays healthy they can improve on that number.

For that comparison to hold true, you'd have to reduce every other QB's 'escape' from a sack.

Some aren't elusive. So they throw it away. How do you measure that? Because those would/should count as protection errors too.

There simply isn't a real good way to measure this outside of hurries and sacks. Hurries however is very subjective, as good QBs will end up throwing before they want to and even manage to complete some of those throws.

The two aspects (protection and a QB's ability to negate a possible sack) really are indelibly linked together. And ultimately it is the responsibility of a QB to be able to account for a free rusher.

Matt Hasselbeck was quite good at getting the ball out to avoid a sack. I've never seen a QB with his ability to dump a ball harmlessly at the feet of a back or TE (often times when they were engaged in a block and not looking at all) to avoid both a sack and a grounding call. It was always funny to watch the refs look dumbfounded at each other as if to say, "Was that really legal?"

Just my opinion, but offensive line continuity is one of the more overrated things in all of football. Just find 5 really good offensive linemen and that will make a great line, whether they have played together for 3 years or not.

JSeahawks wrote:Just my opinion, but offensive line continuity is one of the more overrated things in all of football. Just find 5 really good offensive linemen and that will make a great line, whether they have played together for 3 years or not.

It's a fair point, I would add though you need a good offensive line leader, which will build the chemistry. There has been a noticeable improvment since Unger has taken over. So I would say solid/strong leader = "good line chemsitry". Saturday comes to mind (the man not the day).

Though you of course can not argue base physical/mental talent (really on any position or grouping). Though I would weight leadership when it concerns O-Line.

I agree in continuity is unrated. I look at the line starting the season as Okung,Carp,Unger Sweezy and ? I believe R tackle will be open unless our RT shows he will get less mistakes and penalties. His line last year was bad. He had had less drive killing mistakes 2nd half but still was rated very low.

JSeahawks wrote:Just my opinion, but offensive line continuity is one of the more overrated things in all of football. Just find 5 really good offensive linemen and that will make a great line, whether they have played together for 3 years or not.

I completely disagree. This will get you ok play.

to get really good offensive line play see the Seahawks line of 05 when that group had been together for about 3 straight years and had basically the same players to rotate with. Then they lost Hutch and were never the same after that. And the band just played on.

I'm with les on the continuity thing. It is one of the most important things IMHO.

However, the way the coaches handle the players matters a great deal, too. Cable has been quoted as saying he likes to have his O-linemen practice at two or three positions across the line, not just their primary one. That makes the whole group more resilient when it comes to injuries, and better able to cover when a man is out for a while. IMHO, one of Holmgren's greatest flaws was his use of personnel, and seeming inablility to let the backups have any practice time or game snaps to get up to speed. It made injuries that much more damaging for us than for some other teams. In essence it made the drop off from starter to replacement greater than it needed to be. With Cable, now, we see how much more resilient a line can be if the guys are prepared to handle those situations. I mean, look at 2011. We were all pretty amazed that we were still cranking out the yards and points at the end of the season with 3 starting O-linemen out. That kind of resilience was unheard of under the prior regime.

Talent can get you to the playoffs.It takes character to win when you get there.SUPER BOWL XLVIII CHAMPIONS

JSeahawks wrote:Just my opinion, but offensive line continuity is one of the more overrated things in all of football. Just find 5 really good offensive linemen and that will make a great line, whether they have played together for 3 years or not.

Yeah, sounds simple enough, but who just has that? Get 5 guys, some maybe better than others, but with a smash mouth mentality, a little athleticism and a good grasp of the system to play together for a few seasons and you may still end up the better line.

I don't profess to being an expert on offensive lines (or anything else for that matter), but I have to think establishing continuity in an O-line is as difficult as grooming a top 5 QB. If that wasn't the case, every team would possess a rock solid O-line. Few do.

Expecting the line to stay healthy, and together, for an extended peiod of time is asking a lot, so sometimes you have to get outside the box and draft mobile QBs and bring in guys named Harvin. IMO, the presense of Percy Harvin alone will dramatically improve our O-line.

What sux worse...playing D against Seattle or playing O against Seattle? We really do have it going on.

JSeahawks wrote:Just my opinion, but offensive line continuity is one of the more overrated things in all of football. Just find 5 really good offensive linemen and that will make a great line, whether they have played together for 3 years or not.

Yeah, sounds simple enough, but who just has that? Get 5 guys, some maybe better than others, but with a smash mouth mentality, a little athleticism and a good grasp of the system to play together for a few seasons and you may still end up the better line.

This. ^^^ Throw in the salary cap and you further complicate the issue. The most we've ever had was two 'really good' OL players at any given time.

Continuity is nice in pass protection for understanding how to adjust to blitzers. Seattle gave up a few sacks last year because of line miscommunication. Having played O-line, I can't think of any reason why continuity would matter in the run game though. That might explain why Seattle had an elite run blocking unit last year despite having one of the lowest continuity scores.

JSeahawks wrote:Just my opinion, but offensive line continuity is one of the more overrated things in all of football. Just find 5 really good offensive linemen and that will make a great line, whether they have played together for 3 years or not.

I completely disagree. This will get you ok play.

to get really good offensive line play see the Seahawks line of 05 when that group had been together for about 3 straight years and had basically the same players to rotate with. Then they lost Hutch and were never the same after that. And the band just played on.

It does make a big difference.

Yea, but if at the start of that season we would have upgraded from Sean Locklear to Jonathon Ogden maybe we wouldnt be complaining about the officiating in XL anymore because maybe we woudl have won it. We wouldnt have had the same continuity but we would have had a much better player.

They were no longer the same after losing Hutch because they no longer had the best left guard in all of football, not because they lost continuity.

I mean, I understand that continuity is nice if you can get it. Obviously 5 guys will get better together the longer they play together. But if I have the choice of going into a season with the same 5 guys for the sake of contuinity, or upgrading the weakest link on the line i am taking the upgrade every single time.

If I gave the impression I was for using lessor quality players for the sake of continuity I apologize.

I'm all for getting the best possible people. But then let them play together as much as possible including the normal swaps within the game. Just trying to say the longer players work together the better they will be because of the little things they will get used to whan playing together.

Our O line has been plagued with swaps for several years and if we can find 5 guys to keep together our running and passing game will improve even more than they have the last couple of years.